“ The description of the manner in which they are made, as set forth in the foregoing statement of facts, and also the evidence of the witnesses for the government, showing the unity of the method and process with that followed in the case of an admitted cast of sculpture, furnish us better means of determining the question in dispute than may be found in the opinions set forth in the record, and yet some of the witnesses do in fact, as we have seen, admit that the figures are casts of sculpture, bad though they may be. ”

“ Casts in plaster of Paris are likewise produced from rare objects of sculpture, generally for use in museums or art institutions, but sometimes for reproduction by sculptors in marble, stone, etc., and are also called 'casts of sculpture,' but are in strict sense 'casts from sculpture,' being cast from plaster of Paris from sculptural objects, such, for example, as the high relief frieze of the Parthenon at Athens, the facade of the guild of the Butchers house at Hildesheim, the tomb of Englebert, and other works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art mentioned in the testimony of Messrs. ”

“ The board of appraisers thought that on July 24, 1897, the day of the passage of the tariff act, and for many years prior thereto, those figures belonged to a class which was known in commerce, in art, and to the classifying officers of customs of the United States as 'statuary,' and specifically as 'church statuary.' In the opinion of the board it was stated: 'It is the practice of professional sculptors to have their original creations in clay reproduced in plaster of Paris for permanent use as models from which the objects are sculptured in marble, stone or other material. ”

“ Religious institutions are not schools of art, nor can congregations without adequate means always consult esthetic rules in regard to the equipment of their churches. It is the sentiment of pious associations which gives the figure its effieiency as an aid to religious worship, and the plaster cast may, in this way, be as servicale to the humble worshiper as the more costly work of genius.' The subject was again before the Treasury Department on April 26, 1893. ”

“ An examination of the provisions of the various statutes shows a somewhat uniform purpose on the part of Congress to provide free entry to casts of marble, bronze, alabaster, or plaster of Paris, and also statuary and specimens of sculpture, when specially imported, in good faith, for the societies enumerated in the acts. It is also seen that under the language used in these different paragraphs, which may be described as the 'philosophical and scientific,' and the 'regalia and gems' paragraphs, some article might be admitted under either paragraph. ”

“ Painting a marble statue does not alter its original substance, or give the subject a new definition or meaning. Some marble statues, the work of a great sculptor, have been slightly painted, under his own direction, for the purpose, as supposed, of imparting a more lifelike appearance to the statue, and of possibly thereby enhancing its value. ”

“ As appears upon its face, the letter of the Secretary was in reply to a communication from the board of general appraisers, protesting against the free entry of articles of this nature under the act of 1890, because of the advantages thus given to the foreign dealer in these figures, some of whom had a store in Montreal, although the figures were manufactured in Munich, and the order was supplied from the Montreal store, and the board insisted that the figures were not entitled to such entry by the true construction of the statute. ”

“ The language of that paragraph (465) the board held limited its definition of the term 'statuary' to that paragraph alone. Continuing, the Secretary said:
'The Department believes that the crude or inartistic character of the figures under consideration cannot be urged as a reason for their exclusion from the benefits of free entry. It is fair to infer a liberal intention on the part of Congress from the fact of its inclusion of religious institutions among those to which the privilege of free entry is extended. ”

“ American Net & Twine Co. v. Worthington, 141 U.S. 468, 35 L. ed. 821, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 55; United States v. Wigglesworth, 2 Story, 369, Fed. Cas. No. 16,690; Rice v. United States, 4 C. C. A. 104, 10 U.S. App. ”